Jamaal Charles ready to make his debut with Broncos

Former Chiefs' RB has Mile High history

Broncos running back Jamaal Charles makes a catch during drills at Dove Valley in Englewood on July 28. (Andy Cross / The Denver Post)

ENGLEWOOD — When Jamaal Charles reached the sideline at Sports Authority Field at Mile High after the biggest run on his career day, he found his head coach, Todd Haley, and told him to give other running backs the chance to finish the game.

It was midway through the fourth quarter, and Charles already had rushed for a franchise-record 259 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas City during the final game of the 2009 regular season. It was a coming-out party in near-freezing weather that knocked the Broncos out of the playoffs and previewed a stellar stretch to come for a tailback who has five 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Now, as he prepares to play Saturday night in the stadium where he ran wild more than seven years ago, Charles isn't likely to offer up any of his touches to others while making his debut in a Denver uniform. They might be the only chances he has to prove he can provide the Broncos with the big-play ability he once used to burn them.

"Every time I step on the field, it's an opportunity to show people what I can do for me in the present and now in the future," Charles said. "I'm just going out there and playing ball. I'm just going out there to just do what I always do and let talent speak for itself."

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His snaps against Green Bay in Denver's third preseason game will be the only live action for Charles before next Saturday's roster deadline, when the Broncos and the rest of the teams in the NFL must cut from 90 players down to 53. He won't play in the final preseason game, against Arizona on Thursday.

The Broncos signed Charles in May to a one-year deal that could pay as much as $3.75 million with incentives. After nine years with the AFC West rival Chiefs, Charles was eager to prove his struggles of the past two seasons — he played in a total of only eight games in that stretch because of knee injuries — wouldn't mark the end of his career. "The Comeback," as Charles deemed his new start in Denver, has progressed slowly by design. The 30-year-old was limited to mostly individual drills at the start of training camp and did not play in the Broncos' first two preseason games.

By last week, though, Charles was running through full team drills during joint practices with the 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif. This week he shed the brace that had provided support to his surgically repaired right knee. In a recent practice, Charles burst around the right edge. The defensive back chasing him, needing only to touch the running back to draw a whistle, couldn't catch up.

"He's looked explosive for about two or three weeks now," Broncos coach Vance Joseph said Wednesday. "That hadn't changed. He looks explosive right now."

His health, Charles insists, isn't a concern.

"I'm not even worrying about it," Charles said of reinjuring his knee. "If it happens again, it happens. As I always believe, if it's supposed to happen, it's going to happen. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be, and right now I'm just going out there and playing freely."

Joseph has kept details about the game plan for Charles on Saturday to a minimum, saying that he would play "a lot" and later adding that he'd likely be involved within the first 15 plays of the game. Charles could be the final piece of the backfield picture as the roster deadline looms. C.J. Anderson and Devontae Booker are the featured running backs in the rotation, and rookie De'Angelo Henderson has been perhaps the Broncos' most impactful offensive player during the preseason. Veterans Stevan Ridley and Juwan Thompson have also been part of the revolving cast of backs in training camp.

But all eyes Saturday will be on Charles.

"I just want to see, is it Jamaal?" Anderson said. "I'm just excited to see the same No. 25 (Charles now wears No. 28) that I grew up watching and then got a chance to play against when he was over there in Kansas City. Jamaal is a special player, and we know that. The opportunity that he is going to get this weekend is going to be exciting."

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